Premier Rugby have refused to be drawn on allegations that a Guinness Premiership club has been working outside of the salary cap.

Wasps owner Steve Hayes made the accusation in an interview with The Guardian. All Premiership clubs are required to operate within a £4m cap per season.

"I've no hard evidence, just common sense," he said. "You look at what's happening and what one club have been doing. I think they're going to have a challenge."

Salary caps have been big news in recent weeks following the scandal erupting in Australia over the Melbourne Storm's systematic abuse of the cap in the NRL. A Premier Rugby spokesman
insisted that enquiries were constantly being made to ensure the cap was properly policed.

"Enquiries are always ongoing as part of the process of policing the salary cap," he said. "But Premier Rugby will not comment on any individual cases, and neither should other clubs."

Hayes also had further words of warning for the future, arguing that any abuse of the cap would harm rugby in the long run.

"The professional game has to avoid cheating. There is a salary cap and it's there for a reason," he said. "I don't think it will always stay at its current size, but it's there to develop the game. Rugby has only been professional for 15 years, and it takes time. If you've only got one or two teams every year winning the same things, it's just not going to work. The product will become poorer as a result."